Come What May
by GetSchwifty
Summary: A story of a woman who has crossed over into the Dragon Age universe from our world - or a world similar to it.
1. Chapter 1: The Calling

Come What May

Chapter 1: The Calling

She shivered with the freezing wind gnawing at her back. She didn't need this cold alongside the superficial wounds she was suffering from. She should have known better than to try getting at the carrion the vultures were picking at across the river; she shouldn't have tried to walk over the slippery rocks, but she had, and because of that she fell into the water and suffered through several falls and was lucky to escape with a sprained ankle and scattered bruises. She was starving and needed meat but she was no hunter - she didn't even know how to fashion anything to hunt with. This place was … odd. She had been here for more than a few days and hadn't seen a single person, but even so, she didn't have the faintest idea how she _got_ here.

"Where the hell am I? It's like this forest doesn't even stop," she muttered to herself in annoyance. Not only was she cold and hungry but now something smelled bad - _really_ bad. She held her nose in protest and gasped when she saw what was causing it. Along the side-path she was following were many cat corpses strewn about, their innards splayed out for any and all to see. The forest was thinning but so was the life that dwelled within it. Edging the road, but making sure not to step on any part of the dead cats, she found dead birds, plants, and a few mice. This place was riddled with death and decay.

Further on she noticed the ground looked burned - it was like someone had set the entire road on fire. Blackened soot covered a rather large portion of the road, it had to be at least 20 feet across on all ends. She stopped to look at it, more out of fear than curiosity. Who had done this? Why would someone set a random patch of the road on fire? She tsked to herself,"Jesus, this shit doesn't make any damn sense."

She inched around what she could but ultimately could not avoid all of the touched area; on one side of the road was scorched and smoldering while the other was very near the edge of a cliff. The trek through was painful because the ground was still smoking - this happened very recently. Her mind kept racing, she kept ruminating about how she got here even though no memory was there. All she really remembered was sleeping in her tent and when she woke up she was in a strange part of the camping area, only it didn't look familiar at all. Some of the animals she had seen were strange.

She continued onward and saw the thickening of trees which only frustrated her further. Was this ever going to end, or was she going to spend the next three days wandering around some abandoned campsite that never seemed to stop? It wasn't as if she hadn't tried her cell phone, the damn thing wasn't getting any service. As if on cue she checked it again but she knew it was dead. She had to charge it every day to get the thing to work but she hadn't seen any stand-alone outlets this deep into the forest, but it made sense they wouldn't be out this far; people weren't supposed to go this far in she bet. But there weren't any signs to show the way to the road. She figured if she could find one of the mountie's lodges she could have them guide her back to her campsite. Why did she have to go camping alone? And why the hell of all places was it in freezing ass Canada?

Something landed in the dirt right at her feet. Alarmed, she checked to see what it was but was confused. An arrow. Its feathered end was still vibrating from the impact. Someone was shooting at her. Before she could imagine why she bolted behind a large boulder just off to her left and flattened her back against it, trying desperately to still her breath. What was going on? Was it a hunter? If it was, why the hell was he using arrows and not a hunting rifle? She heard scuffling around, footsteps, there were more than one of them whoever they were. She heard them getting closer, each step making her heart race and thump inside her chest. Were they coming to check on her to make sure they hadn't hit her, or were they coming to finish the job?

They started talking to one another in a language she couldn't understand, but it didn't sound french. They started speaking English after a moment and started arguing about firing the arrow too soon. One of against the idea and the other was for it - they mentioned something about upsetting the keeper? She crouched as low as she could to veer them off her track, she didn't know what the hell they were talking about but she wasn't going to take any chances that they might want to talk instead of kill.

"We know you're there _Shem_ , so just come out and tell us what you're doing here," one of them yelled,"or we'll come and get you."

She didn't like the tone of his voice. She was frightened and alone while two men were screaming at her. What was she going to do? What had he called her - a shem? What was a shem? Her mind was racing again but this time she was frozen in a state of terror.

"I'm giving you to the count of three and then I'm coming over there to slit your filthy throat. One. Two. Th -"

The other one interrupted him,"We want to know what you're doing here. You aren't supposed to be here."

"I said get out here! Now!" The more aggressive one screamed and then fired another arrow near her position. She gasped at how close it had landed to her. Had they seen her hide? She didn't have time to really think on it before another arrow zipped through the air, grazing her hair and then pierced right into the pine tree just a foot away from her.

Out of terror she shot straight up and yelled,"What are you doing? Are you trying to murder me?"

"I pretty much did say that more than once. Now what are you doing here? Why don't you go back to one of your Shem cities and leave the Dalish alone? I'm sick and tired of your kind polluting the forest with your stench."He spat at the ground after his short speech.

She was confused again - their outfits were strange, and so were their weapons. They were wearing what looked like medieval armor and carried slender elongated bows, they kept them drawn to show they weren't kidding around. Or maybe they were just trying to scare her. She could see they were in some sort of costume after she examined their faces and saw the prosthetic elf ears. She calmed down a bit but still kept her guard up. "What. The. Hell… You're firing arrows at me dressed up as elves? Don't you two have anything better to do that to go around scaring the crap out of people? I have half a mind to call the police and tell them about you."

"We _are_ elves you idiot." The brunette scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"What's the puh-leece?" The blonde one asked in what looked like actual bewilderment.

"Jesus," she sighed,"knock the shit off. I have a phone and I know how to use it."

"What? What's a phone? What the hell are you going on about you flat-eared bitch? We aren't here to play games. You're trying my patience!" The brunette drew his bow higher and aimed it at her but the blonde one settled his hand on the other's arm and shook his head and motioned for him to lower the bow. They both looked her over and gave her and equally confused look. The brunette spoke up again,"what's with your clothes? They look ridiculous, even for a shem. Did you get them out of the garbage heap or did you actually craft those?"

"You two are the ones dressed up for the renaissance festival but _I'm_ wearing strange clothes? Nevermind. I don't care anymore. I'm looking for the mounties and if you can't help me then at least move out of my way and stop shooting fake arrows at me." She made a move to walk past them but the brunette shoved her back so harshly that she fell to the ground.

"You aren't going anywhere, not that way at least. Turn back the way you came or I'll plant one of my 'fake' arrows into your skull."

"God damn it, knock it off! This isn't funny anymore."

"Was it supposed to be funny?" The blonde one asked in genuine curiosity. "Do humans find this sort of thing amusing? That would probably explain your violent nature."

"Fine. Play your D&D game, but do it with someone else. Now can you just tell me which way it is to the nearest park ranger?"

"What's a park ranger? If you're going to speak then speak plain. Use _real_ words. Hell, you damn humans steal everything from us - including our language - and then force us to use this language, and _then_ you go and start making words up. No wonder our two peoples can't get along - we can't even communicate because you hairy walking apes can't even talk right. Elgar'nan save me, this human is a complete moron."

She sighed and didn't even respond. This was clearly some sort of in-depth role playing from a couple of Canadian nerds who didn't want to break character. She did have to admit their acting was pretty convincing considering this was on-the-spot improvisation. She wanted to go the way the boys were but they wouldn't let her pass, again.

"Go back the way you came. I won't warn you again."

"I can't. I've been walking this way for the past three days. I'm cold. I'm hungry and I need to get back to my fucking camp site. Oh but I can't, because two nerds are in my way and are refusing to help me. Enough with this role playing shit already!"

"What's a nerd?" The blonde one asked. "Nevermind. Turn around. Or take the side passage over there. Either way you're not passing us. You will not harass the Dalish."

"Oh Christ almighty… what is a Dalish? What's a keeper? And what the hell is a shem? Do I have to play into your stupid game in order to pass?"

"I've had enough of this bitch. Now she's insulting us by feigning ignorance."

She felt faint, so it was probably a good thing she was still sitting on the ground. She wanted to ask for food but she didn't have the strength. The men were arguing now but she couldn't make out the words with the ringing in her ears. She knew this feeling - she was about to pass out. "Unnnh no," she muttered to herself, as if this would somehow prevent her loss of consciousness. She fell backward and looked at the sky for the brief moment she would be awake and noticed it was graying; it would rain soon.

She awoke to the sounds of rain and chattering and realized she was in some sort of contraption. The ceiling was low and there was hardly enough room inside for the make-shift bed she was lying in. There was a rustling sound and she could hear movement. She turned over to see what it was and was in utter awe of yet another cosplayer, except this time it was an elderly woman. She didn't have time for this anymore, all of it was juvenile and idiotic - why were these people larping? She cleared her throat and hoarsely uttered,"who are you? Why are you dressed like that?"

"I am Keeper Isera. I am the one who tended to your needs. We tried to get you to eat earlier but you were too weak and delirious to do so. Are you from one of the cities? Why did you wander out so far into the woods?" She asked as she handed her a small bowl of clear liquid, though it took her more than one try to get her to take it. The bowl was hot to the touch so she set it in her lap and waited for it to cool off but she wasn't sure she should even drink it - what if these freaks were trying to feed her cat piss or something?

"What is this stuff?"

"It's a lemongrass broth with a few other ingredients, mostly curative like what you humans refer to as elf root. It should help with your wounds."

"What wounds? I don't have any wounds."

"My dear, your body is covered in burns. Did someone do this to you? Are you seeking sanctuary from a torturer of some kind?"

She peeled her shirt back to see she was covered in burn marks. How had she not noticed these for the past few days? Were they even there before? No, these assholes had to be the reason they were there, but they didn't look fresh. "No, you did this to me. You and your larp group did this to me. I'm calling the cops. Give me my damn phone."

The old woman looked at her in confusion for a moment and then turned to her pack behind her, wherein she pulled out an amulet. "Dennan was right about you; your words _are_ strange and you assume a lot of things that are not true... You don't sound Ferelden or Orlesian and you certainly aren't large enough to be from one of the Avvar tribes. Are you from Rivain? Hmm," she paused,"what is your name?"

"What's it matter to you, and what are all those weird places you're talking about? What's with the necklace?"

"It's an amulet of protection. Here, drape it across your neck." She replied and settled the chain in her hands. She clasped her hand shut and left her own wrapped around hers for a time before pulling back and nestling into her chair, and then she just stared. Although the woman's words were kind and well-mannered her gaze was anything but warm; she had the ice cold eyes of a timber wolf and no smile to speak of. Something about her really was giving her the creeps.

"What is your name? I must admit that I am tiring of this charade. Although I suppose it doesn't really matter - you're leaving as soon as you are able. Your trinkets are in a sack next to the cot. Please leave as quickly as possible. The others are growing weary of your presence."

"Look, I've had enough of this game -"

"Is that what you think this is? A game? Tell me human, do you think this entire world is a game? The hunters have known of your presence ever since you wandered into this wood - they've been watching you for three days. You wandered around, fumbling clumsily about and making some sort of feeble attempt at gathering food. You've got to be from the city because you know nothing of the wood or how to gather food. It doesn't matter," she tsked angrily,"you're not welcome here shemlen and you will leave as soon as I deem you fit."

"Why not just make her leave now?" A man asked and flipped open the flap to the caravan-type thing she was in. She recognized him; he was the brunette from earlier.

"It's _you_." She sneered.

"Aneth ara Dennan."

"Christ, can you speak English? I don't understand you."

"Those words weren't meant for you. Now get out." He said and grabbed her arm, roughly pulling her aside and shoved her out of the caravan. She didn't have time to respond before he pushed her again, towards a path out of the camp.

"Stop pushing me freak; I'm still weak!" She yelled in annoyance.

"Get out. None of us want you here!" He retorted and shoved her again, this time sending her to the ground.

"Enough Dennan. There is no need to be so physical. Just let her pass."

"But Keeper -"

"Shush my child. Ir abelas. Perhaps you two should have left her in the woods afterall. Tarith's soft heart got the better of him the poor dear. He wants to help everyone but he needs to learn not to trust all that he sees." She said softly, her gaze soft and warm as she looked at Dennan but it turned ice cold again when she looked at her. "It appears none here wish to tolerate your company any longer. Please leave."

"What was the point of all that? Why give me this amulet of protection and then have some asshole rough me up and throw me out? Why help me at _all_ if you're just going to treat me like shit?"

"Leave! We won't ask you again." Dennan demanded and drew his bow. No, it wasn't a bow, it looked like some sort of staff. A wizard's staff.

She laughed at what he was doing, now at a point where she couldn't bear this confusing game any longer. She laughed so hard that tears fell from her eyes and wetted her cheeks. "Good _God_ you're all a bunch of embarrassing freaks! Where did you get all this stuff from anyway? Some loser's estate sale? I'm done playing with you -"

"Fenedhis lasa! This is not a game!" He bellowed in seething anger.

She watched as he pointed his staff at her and some strange blue light circled the tip of his staff and swirled around the red stone therein, but the light quickly amplified into a blinding blue fire and came right at her. It was too fast, she couldn't get out of the way, and before she knew what really hit her she felt an icy, throbbing pain in her left shoulder. She breathed in slowly, everything seemed to slow down as she felt the seething pain radiate down her shoulder and into her arm and chest. Tears flowed from her eyes and she fell backward, astonished at what just happened. She gasped,"wh-what… WHAT IS THIS? How…"

She couldn't finish her sentence before she felt another cold blast to the other side of her body, and then heard a clamor of murmuring among the people of whatever clan this was. Some were protesting slightly while others were egging him on.

"Oh my God," she breathed out in pained gasps,"oh my God, how did you do that? What weapon is that? What weapon is that?!"

He looked at her in anger but it soon settled into confusion when he witnessed her wriggling about, gripping both of her shoulders and wincing in pain with shock on her face. He questioned,"how can you not know magic when it's in front of you?"

"MAGIC ISN'T REAL!" She screamed which set off an agonizing cramp in her stomach. "Demons. You're all demons. Satan sent you. This is… impossible. Impossible."

He looked at her with even more of a bewildered look on his face than before. They had to be demons, that was the only explanation aside from hallucination, but this pain was real - she could feel it ebbing its way even further down her body. She felt like she was being frozen alive. She didn't know how she got into this mess, or really what the hell was going on, but it had to be an act of evil. She did the only thing she could think of, which was to pray.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," she gulped,"I-I will fear no evil: For thou art with me."

"We are not evil. We are not demons." One of the women spoke up but it startled her and coerced her into more fervent prayers.

"In the name of Jesus, I rebuke you spirit of D-Denan," she heaved with great difficulty; it was getting harder to breathe,"I- I command to go directly to Jesus, without manifestation and without harm to me or anyone, so that He can dispose of you according t-t-to His Holy Will."

The one called Dennan had long since set his staff aside and was now crouching over her, as were the rest of the clan, but she was verging on the edge of conscious collapse. She couldn't take this anymore. She was surrounded by demons, or cultists… something was very wrong here and she could no longer stay awake for it. She felt the coldness of unconsciousness grip her and gave in to it. Maybe this was all just a horrific nightmare… she hoped.

1


	2. Chapter 2: Dreams

Come What May

Chapter 2: Dreams

 _She could see her shivering against the lean-to, soaking wet in her black hoodie and skinny jeans. The girl with the red hair was surrounded by the city elves, most of them starving and begging more fortunate souls for scraps or money. Her feet were bare - covered in scratches and scabs - she hadn't any shoes for weeks now; someone had made off with them in the forest… she was lucky to have escaped with her life. The bastard hadn't found anything worth stealing, so he took her shoes, called her a dirty shem, and ran off._

 _But this girl, so cold and hungry, whose eyes shone like the deepest blue oceans and whose lips were soft and pink, albeit cracked and dry from thirst - she was beautiful. She huddled into the shack and repositioned herself in some attempt at grasping warmth in the frigid winter air but it didn't work - it never did. She was caught in the rain and the natives were staring at her strange clothes. The elves used words she didn't understand and spat at her feet while the humans glanced at her and rolled their eyes, perhaps taking offense at her condition, yet none did anything to help her, they all just avoided her for fear she might carry some unknown pestilence._

" _Stay back," they said ,"you're sick and disgusting." Her heart broke just a little more each time a child ran away from her, getting a warning from their parents to stay away from the homeless. Was that what she was? She thought she'd find better refuge in the forest but the Dalish had already cast her out and she didn't want to anger them, they had already seemed riled up over the state of the world. Many wanted to help but most keepers wouldn't allow it -_ _at least that's what she could overhear when hiding near their camps. Dalish spies were sent to something called the conclave, and then it had been destroyed, and they had lost their lives_ _. She wanted to be near them instead of this sickened and broken city, but she couldn't. She was an outcast no matter where she went. This was not her world._

Ellie sat up and was shocked at her own dream for how real it felt to her. That woman looked like someone she had seen at the campsite. It was just a dream but it made her long for home. ' _Yeah, I thought this world was a dream,'_ she thought to herself, ' _and look how that turned out_.' After the ice attack she had fainted from the pain and shock but when she woke the Dalish were gone and their camp was picked clean, only scraps of bedding and forgotten blankets remained. She was going to die here if she didn't figure something out. She had been a fool to argue with them no matter how much of a farce she thought they were playing on her. If she really was in some magical mystical world, why had she been so brash as to verbally attack people that were clearly already angry? It had to be the lack of food and water.

Her ears perked up slightly at the sound of rushing water far off in the distance; the river was close enough that she could follow the sound. Maybe she would be able to figure out a plan after she had something to drink. Her lips were cracked and dry, they were splitting open from lack of moisture and then closing, and then re-opening and bleeding. She brushed away some of the blood with the back of her hand and pushed herself up from the ground, her legs were wobbly and weak and wet...it had rained. She herself was only damp so the rain must have stopped sometime in the night. How long had she been asleep? Questions didn't matter at the moment, she needed something to drink.

She walked slowly as each stride was painful and difficult and she thought she had never taken more pained breaths in her life. She felt faint and weak and her body burned everywhere. She touched her left shoulder and pulled back in pain; her wounds were stained red and brown, no doubt from the caked blood and dirt that had mixed in from her forest floor slumber. Luckily the wounds themselves didn't look infected, they just hurt like hell. Time seemed to go on forever until she finally reached the stream but was not lucky enough to reach it alone. There were two armored men there, each covered in a bath of blood which they were washing off in the river. She crept back into the brush and hid, not feeling as stupidly bold as she had the day before, and listened to them in quiet fear.

"Wash it off already would ya? We gotta get back to Denerim before sundown. Sasha's makin' goat stew an' she'll rip my damn 'ead off if I'm late again."

"The shite's in my smallclothes, Rion, but yeah, I'm gonna get it all out in a pinch," the other replied,"I don't give a damn about what your knife-eared wench has on the fire. You'd be better off putting _her_ in the fire."

"Keep sassin' me church-boy an' I'll just run you right through and be done with it. Disrespect my wife again and I'll lop off your 'ead. I mean it this time."

"Templar. Tem-Plar. Can you not speak? Oh forget I asked. If you want me to be done then come and help me wash the damn blood off."

"I'm not the one who shaved off that Dalish's ankle; clean up your own mess Justin."

"He was a damn mage and it was my duty to turn him over to the circle -"

"What circle? Did ya forget the whole world's comin' apart? Ain't no circle no more, hasn't been for a long while. Shit, an' now those - what are they callin' 'em - breaches? They're in the sky. I wanna get home to my wife and daughter...never know if today'll be your last."

"You know what I mean damn it. The circle will be restored once the 'end of the world' is set right on its ass and order is restored. Besides," he said while he washed away the last of the blood splatter and tossed the cloth off to the side,"I feel like every day is my last. I'm a templar."

"So you keep sayin' yet I ain't seen you bring down one mage the entire time I known ya. You're not very good at what you do."

"And you can't speak a proper sentence to save your life. We all have our flaws, but at least I'm _trying_ to do what's right." Justin said and took a seat on one of the flat-surfaced rocks near the river bank.

"Justin you don't do anything right, try or not. You're a Maker-damned murderer. That's all templars do isn't it? You stopped talkin' to me after you were assigned to the circle but I know you were a part of that purge. You killed my wife's cousin and he wasn't a damn abomination. He was with -"

"How would you know anything about what went on in that tower? Were you there? Did you see the children screaming and begging for my protection? Did you see the abominations tearing people apart? Desire demons mesmerizing fellow templars and - wait, what was that?"

"Shit," she said under her breath. She must have moved and stepped on something and as a result put the men on alert. Her heart was pounding in her chest so hard she thought it was going to come right out of her throat. She was waiting for them to come rushing at her but they turned in the opposite direction. She waited for a few seconds before taking the time to breathe a sigh of relief; it didn't look like they were coming back. Yet she waited still just to be sure she wouldn't be met with another confrontation - she didn't think she could handle it. She needed water, _badly_ , and it was right in front of her.

When she was absolutely sure they weren't coming back she inched herself out of the cluster of shrubs and slowly made her way to the bank of the stream, leant down and dipped her hands inside the cool refreshing water. She cupped her hands and smiled as the cool liquid pooled therein. ' _Finally_ ,' she thought to herself as she drank greedily. She kept drinking until her gut was near to bursting to which she then collapsed back onto the ground, but this time with a sense of renewal and a feeling of collecting energy swirling within her. This may have been just enough to get her going so she could find some food.

She gently raised herself into a sitting position and looked around the sorry excuse for a camp - even though determining from their conversation it had probably just been an impulsive spot to refresh themselves - and saw that there were cluttered rags all around. Nothing of real interest was within eyeshot until she rested her sight on a bag, or a knapsack of some sort, just sitting on top of a bunch of gathered sticks and twigs. She calmly stood up and regained her balance, gripping onto a nearby tree trunk for support until she could steady herself, and then walked over to where she saw it. Excited, she fumbled with the twine rope until she got it loose so she could look inside.

"Biscuits? Better than nothing I guess." She whispered to herself yet cursed under her breath for being so ungrateful. She hadn't had anything to eat in several days and here she was bitching about biscuits. She rolled her eyes at herself and slumped down to rest against the smoothness of the rocks barricaded around the collection of firewood, where she then began to eat. The biscuits were stale and very salty - under any other circumstance she didn't think she'd be able to stomach them, but these weren't normal conditions. Grabbing at the biscuits, she quickly devoured them but was still hungry after she had consumed them all. There were only four afterall and they weren't that big.

"Damnit it. Now what am I gonna do? There isn't anything left."

No sooner had the thought passed her lips than did the two she saw earlier come back from the forest, but this time they were accompanied with an entire squad of soldiers. She froze in her position, daring not to utter a word for fear it might earn her a decapitation...or worse. The man with what sounded liked a cockney accent stared at her and then at the emptied bag nearest his position, shook his head and then asked hoarsely,"did you eat 'em all? Andraste's ass girl!"

"I-I'm sorry. I'm - I mean, I was starving. I n-needed to eat. I haven't had any food in three days…"

"Right, and we're supposed to believe that you somehow miraculously survived just so you could stumble into our camp and eat our food?" Justin asked but it was quite clearly a rhetorical question. "She's probably a run-away from one of the piss-poor villages around here. I swear, you Fereldens smell worse than you look."

"Watch it - jus' because you're some ass from Kirkwall -"

"Enough! There's a thief here Rion, we don't have time to waste on political arguments. Shackle her up. We'll bring her with us to Denerim. They can throw her into a dungeon or put her to work. Something...or maybe we could give her to the Chantry?"

"We can't give her to the Chantry for eating stale bread. I may be pissed 'bout havin' to wait until we get to Denerim to eat anythin' else but they were just biscuits. 'Sides, I was lookin' forward to the stew." Rion laughed loudly with a voice that boomed and whose echoes bounced off the trees and cliff walls around them.

Justin sighed,"I'll be the judge of that Rion. Just grab the little harlot and let's go. She may be a mage, she may not be, either way she's going to pay for stealing from templars."

She didn't want to go with them; they were a sketchy bunch - but really, what choice did she have? She was too weak to fight back or run away and maybe in this city of theirs she would have a chance to eat something substantial. She could always make more complex decisions once she was full and had a good night's rest. She decided not to throw any sort of fit or give resistance as Justin bound her wrists in shackles even though they were so heavy she couldn't keep her hands up which in turn forced her to just drop them in front of legs and walk with them. Justin looked at her with a gaze colder than the chilliest wind; she was used to this sort of look from white men but something about this was different. He thought she was a mage or something suspect, and he claimed they were part of a group called templars… she had heard of templars back in school but they weren't like this - they were medieval knights. These goons certainly looked like knights but there didn't seem to be anything even remotely chivalrous about them.

Though her voice was meek and shaking she spoke up,"these are very heavy. I can hardly tolerate them. Don't you have anything lighter? L-like rope?"

"Shut up. You'll take what you deserve and deal with it. I don't run an Inn girl, this isn't chose whatever you'd like and be on your merry way. Open your mouth again and I may just see fit to cut out your tongue." He snapped back, looking down on her in annoyance.

She wanted to punch that look right off his face, that one that said 'I'm better than you are.' She wanted to kick the back of his knees so she could watch him fall face-first into a puddle of mud and horse shit. She could imagine the others laughing hysterically while she kept her own amusement to herself, quietly gloating in his embarrassment. Maybe another time, when she could actually kick his ass afterward; she wasn't some helpless filly that men could walk all over - she was a god damn black belt in karate and she knew how to fight. She doubted these asses knew anything but basic hand-to-hand combat and sword and shield play. But then again she didn't know anything about these people, they could have something she had never seen before. She definitely hadn't seen magic before now - she never thought of it because the very idea of magic was laughable to her. The church sometimes spoke of magic as being Satan's work, but she never really paid any mind to that sort of talk. Yet here, in this world she barely knew anything about, she had already seen a clan of elves...that could wield _magic_.

The trip was long and exhausting. She overheard the men saying they were sick of the Bracillian forest and couldn't believe they lucked out in staying in the northern part of Ferelden.

"Can you believe we saw Dalish? All the way out here?" A woman asked. "I mean what were they even doing here?"

Ellie was surprised to hear a female voice as she had suspected all soldiers were male. Considering what time period she seemed to be in she assumed women would be treated like baby machines and not much else. She felt a small ping of pride in seeing another woman in a position of power even if she was on the side that was holding her captive.

"Trying to escape the shit in the sky I'd imagine."

"How? I heard they found someone to deal with the breaches but that's only one woman. Qunari or not, how can she seal all of them? And of she can't get to them all in time to save everyone how in the name of the Maker do the Dalish think they can escape something like this? Don't you think they'd be a little more involved? They live in this world too. Why are humans always the ones busting our arses to solve problems?" She asked, or more-so blurted out.

"Because it's what we do Joslyn. It's what we've done for thousands of years and it's what we'll still be doing thousands of years from now. We're the ones who've gotta get the other races in order to get things taken care of. They may like to take credit for more than they've given but really, we have lost more lives to fighting Blights and protecting people from war and such…" Justin trailed off for a moment, but then resumed,"it gets tiresome when folk don't appreciate it."

"You're starting to sound like a Warden." She replied softly.

Justin laughed,"Right. Well enough of that."

The conversation lingered on from one political topic to another, speaking of King Alistair and Empress Celene, talking about something called the Circle and mabari - whatever they were, sounded like dogs. She tuned it out after a while and just followed Rion in the lead. It was getting dark and her heart beat was racing. She didn't like the dark. Eventually -after many hours - they reached Denerim and the one called Justin decided to turn her over to the Chantry. She was given into the order as repentance for thievery. This entire ordeal was ludicrous. She wanted to protest but she was beyond exhausted from the journey, so she simply accepted the bed offered and slept for the night.

 _That girl again, she was sitting in the street with barely anything to her body but some drab burlap sewn garment. The other townsfolk had harassed her out of her clothes and she was forced to dig in trash heaps to find something to shelter her from the growing cold. The month's first frost had fallen and she still didn't have any shoes. She thought she was going to freeze to death out here. But there was a shadow standing over her - the silhouette of a nobleman blotted out by the harsh sharpness of the sunlight. She covered her eyes to try and make him out but it didn't help. She asked weakly,"what do you want? I don't...I don't have anything left."_

 _"I don't want anything from you. I want to take you out of this cold and give you a warm bed to sleep in." He responded softly._

 _"And what do you expect in return?"_

 _"Nothing. I just hate to see you suffering out here. I've seen the way the people treat you - as if you're a piece of rubbish they can just toss out and forget. But you're not rubbish, I can see you're special."_

 _"Leave me alone. I don't want to play games," she cried weakly,"stop making fun of me."_

 _"My lady I do not jest. Please, come with me," he asked as another figure stood beside him,"come Tavin, help her. Give her the cloak."_

 _She could see them a bit better when her eyes adjusted. Tavin was an Elf but he was well-dressed and his face looked kind. She didn't like the human nobleman, he made her feel weird. She didn't want to go with him but if she didn't do something soon she would die in the cold, stiff and frozen like an icicle. Reluctantly she acquiesced and took the hand of the nobleman, though it was Tavin who held her interest. He wrapped the cloak around her shoulders and walked behind them. What was she getting herself into?_


End file.
